Driving or extracting piles or like members



DRIVING 0R EXTRACTING'PILES 0R LIKE MEMBERS Filed oct. 21, 1955 Jan.ll3, 1959 J. DEsvAux ETAL 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jan. 13, 1959 J. Di-:svAux ET AL 2,357,984

' DRIVING OR EXTRACTING PILES 0R LIKE MEMBERS Filed Oct. 2l, 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jan. 13, 1959 J. DEsvAUx ET AL 2,867,984

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DRIVING R EXTRACTING PILES OR LIKE MEMBERS Jacques Desvaux, Paris, and Franois Berthet, Houilles, France Application October 21, 1955, Serial No. 542,806

Claims priority, application France October 28, 1954 4 Claims. (Cl. 61--73) these impulses being supplied by means of a device rigidly Iixed to the pile, that is to say fixed on the pile alone and without other subsidiary supporting apparatus. The impulses thus impressed on the pile may be directed along the axis -of the pile, at right angles to that axis, or again simultaneously along the axis and at right angles to the axis. ln` particular, the impulses may be produced by the action of eccentrically-weighted fly-wheels correspondingly driven in rotation, with the eccentric weights acting in phase or displaced in phase.

It was especially provided that one or a number of pairs of eccentrically-Weighted ily-wheels could be so employed, each pair rotating with the eccentric weights in phase about the same axis at right angles to the axis of the pile and located in a diametral plane of the pile. The present invention has for its object improvements in the above arrangements, which are intended to give to the equipments in which they are employed advantageous possibilities of application to the problem of driving or extracting piles.

When a plurality of pairs of eccentrically-Weighted iiywheels rotating about axes at right angles to the axis of the pile are employed, these improvements consist in varying from one pair to the other, separately or in conibination, either the direction of rotation or the displacement of the operative phase of the eccentric weights, or the' mass of the said Weights.

By this means, the direction and/or the force of the impulses generated is varied from one pair to another, the impulses however remaining balanced with respect to the axis of the pile. In this manner, it is possible to vary the resultant effect of the impulses applied to the pile, and in particular the impulses in the direction of the axis of the pile and also those in the direction at right angles to the axis of the pile can be regulated in their relative force Within wide limits up to the elimination of one of the impulses. a plurality of pairs of eccentrically-Weighted y-wheels, it is thus possible to apply to the pile either alternating impulses only, in the direction of its axis, or alternating impulses only, at right angles to that axis, or a kind of combination made up of all proportions of impulses along the axis and impulses at right angles to the said axis.

The apparatus equipped in this way may thus be used in the case where uni-directional impulses are desirable. This is the case when driving or extracting sheet-piling, which only requires the application of impulses along the axis of the pile. Alternatively, it may be only rotational impulses in the direction at right angles to the axis of the pile which are required for driving piles into ground of low resistance. lt also happens that in ground in With the same apparatus, provided with States Paten which the resistance is variable, it is desirable to be able to modify the transverse rotational impulses during the course of driving, while retaining the same longitudinal impulses. The arrangement in accordance with the invention lends itself very conveniently to these various requirements.

The invention and its advantages will be more fully explained in the description which follows below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a view, half in elevation and half in vertical cross-section, of the driving device.

Fig. 2 is a view partly in plan and partly in horizontal cross-section along the line lI--II of Fig. l.

Fig. 3 shows in perspective the arrangement of the various fly-wheels of the driving device.

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view explaining the operation.

Figs. 5 to 8 are diagrams corresponding to the linear development of the arrangement of the ily-wheels in the various alternative forms of operation.

The driving device shown is derived from that described in the U. S. Patent No. 2,743,585. It comprises. a frame 11 which is fixed on the pile 10 and carries two pairs of iiy-wheels, one of which is indicated by 12: A and B, and the other by 13: A and B. Each ily-wheel is provided with spaced holes 14 adapted to receive one or a number of Weights 15 which provide the out-ofbalance effect. Each fly-wheel 12 or 13 is driven by a separate motor 16, electric or hydraulic.

The drive is effected through conical gears 17, 18. The gear 17 is mounted on the shaft 19 of the motor 16. The gear 18 is carried by the shaft 20 of the ily-wheel. The rotation of all' the iiy-wheels is synchronized. To this end, the shafts 19 of the motors 16 carry pini-ons 21 which are constantly in mesh with pinions 22 coupled by transmissions 23 to cardans 24.

The fly-wheels 12A and 12B are arranged so that they always rotate in the same direction. On the other hand, the fly-wheels 13A and 13B are provided with means for reversing the direction of rotation. The pinion 17 is mounted freely on the shaft 19 and a further pinion 25, engaging with the pinion 18, is mounted freely on the shaft 19. A dog 26, sliding on the shaft 19, but driven in rotation by this shaft, is operated by a fork 27 accessible from the exterior through the orifice 28. The mechanical details described in the above two paragraphs are merely to carry out applicants objects of invention and do not form a part of the claimed invention.

There have been shown in Figs. 5 to 8 the fly-wheels such as they would appear if the ideal cylinder which encloses them were developed.

If the four fly-wheels 12A, 13B, 12B, 13A rotate ini the same direction, it is found that their effects are addi-- tive in supplying alternating impulses of translation along the axis of the pile and alternating impulses of rotation at right angles to the axis of the pile, as has been explained in the U. S. Patent No. 2,743,585.

By causing the dog 26 to slide so that it engages with the pinion 25, the direction of rotation of the ily-wheels 13 is reversed, the direction which was originally in the direction o-f the arrow a becomes that of b for these fly-wheels.

If the eccentric weights 17 of all the fly-wheels 12 and 13 pass at the same moment through the upper and lower points, it can be seen that at every instant, the vector radius of the y-wheels makes an angle ot with the position of reference. But in the case of the eccentric weights of the fly-wheel 13, this angle is the inverse of that for the eccentric weights of the fly-Wheels 12.

With this arrangement, the vertical components of the centrifugal forces developed by the eccentric weights are additive. On the other hand, the horizontal components.

canceleachother two by two. The device thus produces only impulses in the direction of the axis of the pile.

By arranging the eccentric weights of the ily-wheels 13zin opposition to,theeccentricgweights of the ily-wheels 12, asshown in Fig, 7, thatis tosay theL ily-wheels 12; and the ily-wheels 13 Vrotatingbin opposite directions and-the eccentric weights of 12` being attheir upper point while theY eccentric wei-ghts of 13 are at their lower point, the Vertical components are cancelled out two by two, while the horizontal components are additive. `In this way, thevpile receives only alternating` horizontal rotational impulses.

If, by adopting the arrangement of Fig. 6, there is added to the mass M of the eccentric weights of the flywheels, 13 an additional mass m, a diferential horizontal component is created, corresponding to the effect of the mass m. While the pile is subjected to the vertical impulses, the eifect of which corresponds to the mass M, it receives Vhorizontal rotational impulses corresponding to the mass m. As the mass m can be varied at will, it is possible to obtain a horizontalcouple of any magnitude which may be desired, and this independently of the force of the vertical impulses.

The use of additional masses m can of course also be effected with the arrangement of Fig. 7, the masses m creating in this case vertical impulses of variable amplitude independent of the horizontal impulses.

In the preceding description,-there has been considered an arrangement in which only two pairs of fly-wheels with eccentric weights are employed. It is however perfectly clear that this number of pairs of flywheels may be greater, and that the invention also includes driving devices with six or eight ily-wheels or more, or devices which give similar effects.

The above description made as applying to a vertical pile is obviously also applicable when the pile is inclined or horizontal. The movements obtained are then directed along the axis of the pile and at right angles to that axis. In the case of piles or tubes driven horizontally,

it is evident that the normal action of gravity will be ref placed by the addition of a suitable force, for example that of a jack mounted elastically on the pile, or any other equivalent arrangement.

What we claim is:

l. A device for driving piles and the like comprising a framework rigidly xed to the pile, two pairs of vertical flywheels with ceentric weights on the said framework, the two ily-wheels of each pair being mounted in spaced relation along the same axis perpendicular to the axis of the pile and on each side of the pile the axes of the two pairsrof ily-wheels being orthogonal to each other, means for fixing the eccentric weights on the said flywheels, means for driving the ily-wheels in rotation at the same speed, the two ily-wheels of one pair rotating in the same direction, and means for reversing the direction of rotation of one pair of fly-wheels with respect to the other pair.

2. A device for driving piles and the like comprising a framework rigidly xed to the, pile, two pairs of vertical ily-wheels with eccentric weights on the said framework, the two-fly-wheels of each pair being mounted `in spaced relation along the same axis perpendicular to the axis of the pile and on each side of the pile, the axes of the two pairs of ily-wheels being orthogonal to each other, means on each ily-wheel for carrying a plurality of eccentric masses means fordriving the saidfly-wheels in rotation at the same speed, the two ily-wheels of one pair rotating in the same direction, and means for reversing the direction of rotation of one pair of y-wheels with respect to the other.

3. A device for driving piles and the like comprising a framework rigidly fixedk tothe-pile, two pairsof vertical ily-wheels on the said framework, the two y-wheels of each pair being mounted in spaced relation along the same axis perpendicular to the axis of the pile and on each side of the pile, the axes of the two pairs of ily-wheels being yorthogonal to eachother, means on each ily-wheel for carrying a plurality of eccentric masses, the eccentric masses of one pair of fly-wheels being arranged in opposition with respect to the eccentric masses of the other pair of fly-wheels, means for driving the said ily-wheels .in rotation at the same speed, the two fly-wheels of one framework rigidly xed to the pile, two pairs of vertical ily-wheels with eccentric weights on the said framework, the two ily-wheels of each pair being mounted in spaced relation along the same axis perpendicular to the axis of the pile andvon each side of the pile, the axes of the two pairs of ily-wheels being orthogonal to each other, means on each fly-wheel for carrying a plurality of eccentric masses, the masses fixed to the fly-wheels of one pair being different of the masses fixed to the fly-wheels of the other pair, means for driving the said ily-wheels in rotation at the same speed, the two fly-wheels of one pair rotating in the same direction, and means for reversing the direction of rotation of one pair of 'fly-wheels with respect to the other.

References Cited inthe tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,743,585 Berthet et al. May 1, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 387,473 Great Britain Feb. 9, 1933 726,660 Germany Oct. 17, 1942 

